Smelt Sample: 23.5 BHN for both AC and WD???

[Bigslug]

On our latest smelt about 2 weeks ago, we had a bucket containing a bunch of stuff we thought was solder. Some large blocks as well as some loops of rectangular bendable stuff. There were a few stick on wheel weights that went in as well.

Before ingoting this melt out, we cast eight bullets out of that pot for hardness testing - four of them air cooling and the other four getting water dropped. The stuff cast like it had a bunch of tin in it - great fillout in the bullet mold and the top laid very flat in the ingot mold. Bullet samples all tested at 23.5BHN.

Any thought what the bulk of this stuff is composed of?

[sqlbullet]

As Linotype air cools to about that bhn and doesn't harden from water drop....sound like you are pretty close to 84/12/4.

[bangerjim]

Only way to REALLY know is get is analyzed by a local scrap yard with their x-ray gun.

You will then know the % make-up for future mixing using the alloy calc sheet on here.

anything else is just a SWAG.

banger

[runfiverun]

a tin-lead alloy doesn't harden from water dropping.
check it again tomorrow and see if your results have changed, if not you got tin and lead mixed together.
I'd say those bendable rectangle strips are body solder.

[Bigslug]

a tin-lead alloy doesn't harden from water dropping.

That much I'm clear on, but at 23.5 BHN for air AND water cooling, it's certainly not a straight lead/tin alloy.


check it again tomorrow and see if your results have changed, if not you got tin and lead mixed together.
I'd say those bendable rectangle strips are body solder.

I tend to agree. This particular portion of my most recent smelt was all a score from a local gun shop that makes what money they can on items from the collections of the deceased (notably, the guns), and sells me (cheeep!) the items on which they they can't (notably, the reloading equipment/components). The bigger block of it was somewhat triangular in shape. I'm guessing the old feller was probably working with linotype pigs back in the day they were readily available.

[Bigslug]

Ahhh. . .the fun of online detective work! The old guy's stash also had a bunch of plates I have yet to melt. Thanks to another thread here, I have identified these as probably type-spacer plates. Seems he was indeed working in printer's lead.

Now I'm all tingly!:happy dance:

[runfiverun]

yeah a [pig] of linotype did come in rectangle shapes, they had an eye on one end, and were pointed on the other.
at least the 12 or so I have left in the garage are shaped like that.

the round and triangle body lead come in strips about 18" long and in different diameters, from just bigger than roll solder up to just over the size of a dime.
airc the size indicated the tin content and you used the lower tin content lead for the more vertical panels.